Twitchy
by Kelly123
Summary: Of tea kettles and twitches, a discussion between mothers. ONE-SHOT.


_This is pointless._

_But really, isn't all fanfiction? _

_What you read here is nothing more than me wanting desperately to write something after seeing DH2 (OMSQUEAL!) despite the fact of not having the slightest idea what to do or where to start._

_So this is what I came up with._

_It is very short.  
><em>

_D: Not mine._

_Enjoy!_

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><p>All was well.<p>

Somewhere, far off in the distance, the sun was sinking down lower and lower behind a grassy green hill, leaving the sky tinged with pink and orange as dusk settled in. The fading heat from the last of summer's days could still be felt in the air, but a breeze was beginning to stir and spoke well for start of crisp autumn nights. It was quiet in the 4-bedroom home, as quiet as she could remember it being for a very, very long time. The respite was, of course, unconditionally welcome, but at the same time entirely strange. Such things were only to be hers for a season though, and so she embraced the change all the same.

"Curious, isn't it?" she mused, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Ginny was just putting the finishing touches on their tea, blending the sugar and drop of milk to attain that perfect balance between strength and sweetness they were both so fond of. Grasping the matching mugs by their maroon handles, she carried them, one in each hand, to the table and slid the darker of the two in front of her sister-in-law, tendrils of steam rising in delicate whisps and swirling between them.

"Thanks Gin." Hermione said absentmindedly as she accepted the drink, wrapping her hands around the warm ceramic surface. Her thoughts were preoccupied with the previous events of the momentous day for the two families, and she almost burned her tongue on the steaming drink. "Oh, hot! And yes, to say the least it was quite curious, almost as curious as a house empty of children! The sight of you all with that thing this morning caught me rather offguard, especially our sweet little Al! If anyone, I would have expected James."

Ginny rolled her eyes, settling into her seat across the table. "Oh, I think James is secretly half-terrified of it, but for some reason his brother just adores the creature. I was surprised too, but the way his eyes lit up when he saw them for sale, we just didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't take it with him. Especially since you know how nervous he has been all summer about starting school, it was the perfect enticement."

"That makes sense...but I wasn't aware that the rules had changed?"

She took a slow sip, eyes twinkling with mirth as she looked at Hermione over the rim of her cup. "Sometimes, being married to the boy who for the most part saved wizard-kind as we know it has its advantages. Maybe they made an exception..."

"Now that is completely devious. I'm appalled Gin, the letter Hogwarts sent to our house still listed only an owl, toad, or cat as approved pets!"

"Well, technically..."

"Oh, I see." She set her mug back down on the table and steepled her fingers in front of it, "You know, if I'm not mistaken, I do seem to remember that my husband and I played our part in helping that boy save the world."

"What can I say." Mrs. Potter shrugged her shoulders, "Harry photographs better."

"One spread in 'Witch Weekly' and suddenly he thinks he-"

"Brilliant in that, wasn't he?"

"Erm...well, _any_way, I hope you realize that Rosie is going to want one too now. I'm so glad the two of them had each other for support on their first day of Hogwarts, but now I fear your son is a bad influence on my daughter. I'm sure she is trying to sweet-talk Al into letting it sleep in her dorm as we speak. If it has fleas, it's all your fault. She is desperate for a pet, poor thing has been nagging her father incessantly about getting another kneazle like old Crookshanks for ages!"

"How does she remember him? Was she even walking when he died?"

"Barely. But evidently he made quite the impression. I think it's the pictures that did it, she keeps one of me holding the both of them on her nightstand, took it with her today even. But you should have seen her in Diagon Alley, they had a litter for sale across from the owlery and oh, her reaction when we told her she couldn't have one! You would have though Ron and I were personally sending them off to be chopped up into hippogriff food the way she carried on!"

"Lovely imagery. So I take it Ron's still not budging?"

Hermione shook her head bemusedly, "He swears never again. He never got over Crooks sleeping in the bed on our wedding night. Sometimes I still catch him glancing over his shoulder while we're-"

"Okay, I get it! Honestly though, I can't say I blame him!" Ginny exclaimed with a shiver. "I still don't understand how he managed to stay hidden inside your luggage on your honeymoon. That cat had an unnatural attachment to you."

"You sound like your brother."

Ginny set her cup on the table with a clatter. "Don't you _dare_!"

"Okay, okay, sorry! So touchy...just like someone else I know-alright! Well, we were planning on getting her an owl for Christmas, but now, I daresay she'll have her heart set on one of those twitchy little beasts."

"It's not so bad, you know. Kinda cute, once you get used to those strange little noises it makes."

Hermione wrinkled her nose, "But Gin, a ferret! Doesn't it, well, you know!"

"What? Poo on the floor? No, not yet at least. Uses a box just like a-"

"No! What I mean is, doesn't it remind you of..._Malfoy_?"

"Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"

"No, Narcissa." Hermione deadpanned. "Of course Draco! Don't you remember, that year he-"

"-got transfigured into a ferret, oh yeah! Honestly, I had forgotten all about that!"

"You weren't there, I don't think, but still. I can't look at those furry little animals without remembering him and Mad-Eye...well, it wasn't really Mad-Eye, but you know what I mean."

"Oh Hermione, you _would_ think of that! And now that you brought it up, could you try not to mention the correlation in front of Harry. I don't think he's quite forgiven Malfoy as much as he says he has, and he and Ron should be back from taking the little ones to get dessert any minute now."

"Mums the word. Besides, that pretty all but guarantees Rose won't be getting one. My husband makes no such forays into forgiveness, even for show."

"Always has been a stubborn bloke. Wonder where that Rosie gets it?"

They shared a smile and took a sip of tea, reveling for a second in the quiet stillness such busy mothers so infrequently get to enjoy.

"Look at us, sitting here, all grown up and married with children of our own at Hogwarts. Did you ever think things would turn out this way, Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Weasley, enjoying a spot of afternoon tea?" Ginny asked, suddenly nostalgic and filled with gratitude that she still had her youngest child still at home.

"Hoped, maybe. Dreamed...definitely. But with everything that happened...I'm just glad ...I mean, sometimes I was afraid to think of tomorrow, much less..."

"I know." She said, reaching across the table to clasp Hermione's hands with her own. And she did, she alone probably understood the kind of emotion that was threatening to overwhelm her best friend on her daughter's first day at Hogwarts more than anyone else could. That the school still stood, and that it stood for the right reasons...it still managed to put tears in her eyes, even now. "I feel the same way."

The crash of bodies landing in the chimney and the distinctive scent of floo powder shattered the mothers' moment of reflection, and in the blink of an eye their time of peace and quiet vanished. But they didn't quite so much mind.

"MUMMY!" Hugo squealed, bounding into Hermione's lap with tried and true precision, "Mummy, Daddy ate my ice-cream! It wasn't fair!"

"Ron, eating more than his share...some things never do change, do they?" Ginny laughed, scooping up a rather sleepy and sticky Lily and receiving a kiss on the cheek from her returning husband.

Ron shrugged sheepishly, dropping into the chair next to his wife and slinging his arm around her shoulders. "I only finished the last of it off for him! It was melting everywhere and he was eating too slow!"

"Oh I'm sure." Hermione answered, pressing her lips to her son's head and wishing desperately that she could do that same to her daughter, whom she missed with every part of her being. "Don't worry Hugh, next time Mummy will make sure that you get to have the last of Daddy's ice cream, I promise."

"Oi!"

"Serves you right, Ron, stealing from my precious nephew, how dare you!"

"How is it stealing if I bought the stuff?" Ron grumbled to his sister, swiping Hermione's tea and taking a swig, the act of which only seemed to reassert her point and earned him an arched eyebrow from his wife.

"You know, you could always make it up to him." Ginny replied, that scheming gleam in her eye again, "Hugo, what would you think about getting a pet ferret, just like your cousin Albus? Uncle Harry and I know just where your parents could buy you one..."

The little boy almost whacked his mother in the head as he shot up, staring open-mouthed at his parents in a desperate kind of wonder. "Oh Mummy, Daddy, can I really? PLEASE!"

"I'm going to _kill_ you Ginevra."

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><p><em>A FERRET, Albus? Really?<em>

_I loved the movie, but come on, who didn't bust into laughter at the epilogue? Oh dear me..._


End file.
